![]() During production, a typhoon destroyed many of the sets and forced a rebuild, while Chan’s perfectionism held up proceedings. A huge set was built on the Shaw Brothers lot and half a mountain knocked down so shots from certain angles would look right. Golden Harvest agreed to provide the budget required, on the proviso that it include some action. It was screenwriter Edward Tang who showed A Pocketful of Miracles, one of his favourite films, to Chan who immediately wanted to partly remake it. There’s still a lot to like though.Ī Pocketful of Miracles was itself Frank Capra’s remake of his own Lady For A Day, which in turn was based on Madame La Gimp, a short story by Damon Runyon. And the gangster part of the story and the “helping Belle” part of the story don’t always fit together that well – heck, even the fight scenes feel gratuitous. The pacing is really off, with pacy opening and closing sections which contain all the action book-ending an endlessly talky middle where things slow down to a halt – this is one Chan film where the short version works slightly better in my opinion, though I feel that some different cuts should have been made as it’s missing two important scenes that should have been left in. But, even though it tends to be much loved in books about Chan, I don’t think it entirely works. And it’s clearly a heartfelt project too, with its theme of doing good deeds nicely put to the viewer. Technically it’s undoubtedly a triumph, the convincing sets, lavish costumes and graceful camera work really coming together to create a film that’s often great to look at and achieves the old Hollywood feel that Chan was aiming for, while the fight scenes boast the usual incredible choreography. What would happen if they visit the family again? Wouldn’t the same elaborate hoax have to carried out again, with a great many people asked to pretend to be others? Maybe A Pocketful Of Miracles, which Miracles: The Canton Godfather is partially based on and which I haven’t seen, gets around this? But then Jackie Chan’s favourite out of all his films, is a little strange itself or at least it’s one Chan film I can’t entirely decide on. A charade is put on so that a woman’s fiancee and her fiancee’s father believe that her family is rich. It’s a strange premise for a story really. Kuo sets out to help by putting on an elaborate masquerade.… ![]() Meanwhile Madame Kao learns that her daughter Belle, her wealthy fiancee and his father are all coming to visit, and she’s afraid that her poverty will bring disgrace to Belle. He tries to to find a different way to legitimately make a living for himself and his gang and opens a nightclub, but Fei feels that he should be leader, while Tiger, the leader of another gang, still wants a loan repaid that the dead guy owed him. His fortunes immediately take a dramatic turn when he renders assistance to a dying gang leader who unwittingly makes Kuo his successor. Madame Kao, a poor woman selling flowers on the street, persuades him to buy a red rose, saying it will bring him luck. In the 1930’s, country boy Kuo Cheng-Wah is quickly cheated out of all his money when he arrives in Hong Kong. ![]() REVIEWED BY: Dr Lenera, Official HCF Critic Starring: Ah-Lei Gua, Anita Mui, Jackie Chan, Lo LiehĪKA QI MI, MR CANTON AND LADY ROSE, BLACK DRAGON ![]() Written by: Damon Runyon, Edward Tang, Hal Kanter, Harry Tugend, Robert Riskin ![]()
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